


Take Me Home

by godcomplexfics (godtiercomplex)



Series: dysfunctional family funtimes [21]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Cheating, F/F, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Unresolved Emotional Tension, i'm sorry for over tagging this???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 08:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9712940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godtiercomplex/pseuds/godcomplexfics
Summary: Touka and Hide aren’t dating, not really.In which, Touka’s looking for an excuse, Hide has excuses, and everything’s just fine.(Reposted due to Ao3 mishaps)





	

“I’m sorry, but I can’t give you any further extensions,” Hide was forced to say. Yamamoto in front of him (a pen name, but one that suited the dull man) started trying to find excuses, but honestly there weren’t any that Hide was willing to accept. The man was already two days late with his manuscript, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t already been granted a week extension. There was nothing to be done. Hide drank his coffee, and Yamamoto left, promising to email in a copy by midnight.

“It’s always weird to see you interacting with your authors who aren’t Sasaki,” the one to refill his coffee when he set it down was Touka. “Does he know how nice you are to him?”

“I’m nice to my other authors,” Hide protested. He didn’t deny the special treatment he gave Haise. Haise was his star author, and it only paid to indulge him. There was also their friendship to keep in mind.  

“Meeting anymore authors here or are you done terrorizing them for the day?”

“It’s lightly bullying them to follow deadlines,” Hide simply said. “And no, I’m free. Want to take off that apron and join me for a cup or two?”

“No,” Touka said as she usually did, “I think not.”

“That’s what you always say,” Hide protested, “Give it more thought than that, please. Haven’t we been friends for a while now?”

“I hardly consider you a friend,” Touka said.

“How mean. What do you consider me then? If it’s not ‘future boyfriend’ then I might have to protest that.”

“I’m not looking for a boyfriend,” Touka protested. “So as if.”

Hide held up his hands in surrender, “I know when I’m beat, fine then. But I do consider you a friend, Touka-chan.”

Touka sighed, “No more coffee for you, it’s turning you odd.”

“Odd is Haise after five shots.”

“Sasaki’s odd all the time,” Touka said, and then shook her head, “I’m going back to work.”

xxx

His relationship with Haise was complicated in the sense that it wasn’t meant to be. Originally the plan had simply been to be author and editor. Instead, their past was filled with what could have beens. There were moments when that past could have changed, but he had let go of it. Haise had Shuu. That was a fact. And Hide respected that, and always would.

Haise’s yet unrealized feelings aside, he respected Shuu’s feelings enough to be stronger than any temptations. He truly believed that if Haise didn’t want to be with Shuu and wanted Shuu out of his life, he would have removed him from it a long time ago. Since Shuu was still in it, Hide had to respect that.

He did think that their relationship had twisted Haise’s views on what love was, though. Haise didn’t quite understand what love was, but it wasn’t Hide’s place to determine that for him. It was something Haise would have to figure out on his own.

Just like Hide would.  

xxx

He was slightly surprised to run into Touka at a gay bar. He didn’t know why he was, but he was.

“Come here with some friends?” he half yelled over the loud, pulsating music. Touka looked off into the crowd, and scowled.

“No. I came here alone.” She said, and she was lying, but Hide had been drinking, so he wasn’t sure why she was lying. “Why are you here?”

“Why is anyone here?” he asked in return.

“To go out for coffee later,” she said, and she was giving him a look, and he wondered about it up until she glanced out at the floor again, and then brushed against his side as she ordered herself a drink.

“How much later?” he asked.

“In the morning later, more likely than not.” She tossed back her shot, and then sipped her drink, a dim orange color in the neon lights. Another glance at the floor--and honestly who was she running from and should he be thankful that she was running to him--and she looked at him and said, “Want to leave? I want to leave.”

“Yeah, I want to leave.”

They caught a cab back to his place, and thankfully Haise wasn’t there. But his things were. There was a discarded copy of a novel Haise had been reading, there was Haise’s mug in the sink, there was a pair of reading glasses balanced on the edge of the coffee table... But, Hide stopped thinking about Haise, and focused on Touka.

She had tattoos of wings on her back, he discovered, and when quizzed about them, simply said, “Yoriko and I did them when we were 22.”

The name Yoriko sounded familiar, and he struggled to remember why, but then lost himself instead in uncovering more of Touka. He lost himself in making love to her the best way he knew how.

Afterwards, when he helped her clean up, he could have sworn he saw tears. When questioned, Touka lied again and said that nothing was wrong.

xxx

In the morning, he woke up to a call from his boss at 4am, and so was just in time to see Touka attempting to sneak out.

“Don’t you still owe me a coffee at least?” he asked, and she winced, and seemed to carry on an internal debate with herself for a few moments. She declined the coffee. He sipped his slowly as he waited for her to speak.

“I was trying to figure some things out.”

“I don’t appreciate being used to figure things out,” he said, “If you have someone else, you should have just said. Were they there at the club last night?”

“It was her idea,” Touka said, “She wanted to. . .I don’t know. She wanted something more than I can give her.”

Hide privately wondered when he’d become the stable one in his group of friends, and sighed. “Give her everything you can. That’ll be enough for her.”

“I have,” Touka said, “And it hasn’t been. I can’t love her in the right way.”

“So love her in your way,” Hide said, “That’s the right way for her if she loves you back.”

Touka tapped fingers on her side of the table, “I thought I loved Sasaki for years, and never noticed that wasn’t love.”

“Haise has the effect on people,” Hide mused.

“You’d know better than me, huh, Mr. Best Friend?”

“In all honesty, Haise will always just be my friend. Even if he and Shuu were to break up, I wouldn’t be lying in wait for him. I love him, but as a friend.” Hide spoke the truth as best he could see it, and Touka nodded.

“I’m not waiting for Sasaki either. I thought I was waiting for something but, maybe it’s always been right there in front of me. . .” Touka trailed off. Hide finished his coffee. It was way too early for such deep conversations, he couldn’t help but think.

“Glad to have helped you work out your crisis,” he settled on saying.

“I never thought I was gay,” Touka said, “But I guess I really am.”

“Please don’t say my technique was so lacking it turned you off guys. It might scar me for life.”

“Then I won’t say that. I just realized as we fucked that, that wasn’t where I was supposed to be. That I should’ve stayed at the club with Yoriko and talked things out.”

“Wait, isn’t that your best friend? She’s always hanging around the cafe.”

“Was my friend. She asked me to consider us dating and I freaked out on her. I may have messed things up.”

Hide nodded, “You might have, but, saying sorry can sometimes help.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Yoriko is my. . .I should apologize.”

xxx

Hide sipped his coffee, and grinned at the thumbdrive in front of him. “Yamamoto-san, I could kiss you.”

“Please don’t,” the man said, round cheeks flushing.

“You actually are handing me a manuscript on time, I should kiss you.” Hide continued to tease the author, and then finally stopped when his phone rang with a text from Haise. “I’ll email you when we’re ready for the next edits.”

“Thank you, Nagachika-san.” Yamamoto left, and Haise came into the cafe, Shuu in tow.

“You look happy,” Haise commented as he sat down. Shuu sat down as well.

“I am happy. Hi, Shuucchan.”

“Please cease calling me that. You have Saiko doing it as well,” Shuu said.

“How is she doing by the way?” Getting kidnapped was no joke. Hide was just glad she’d been returned to them--or rather had fought her own way free.

“She’s talking about going to a con in Italy, so I guess she’s okay,” Haise said.

“Oh sweet, maybe it’ll line up with one of our touring dates and you all can hang out together for once,” Hide pulled out the folder, and sat it in front of the couple. “Well, these are the first thoughts for the tour, any changes?”

They chatted for a while, and Shuu suggested changes and additions which Hide listened to and Haise ignored or protested. Then the couple left, bickering slightly, and Touka refilled his cup.

He touched her wrist, “That’s a new bracelet.”

“Yoriko wanted to match,” Touka shrugged, “Who am I to say no to her?”

Hide laughed, “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

He might not have found love with Touka or had it been more than a could-have-been with Haise, but he knew in the future he could and would find it. Just, when he was least expecting it.

He would find that person that collected him up and took him home.


End file.
